Exploring the Hardware
by Chyme for the Rhyme
Summary: Ai has always been distracting. It's amped up to hundred, now that he can actually pass as human. And apparently want, no, desire things that are exclusively so. Yusaku remains unconvinced though. (In other words, Ai propositions Yusaku. And Yusaku, naturally, over-thinks everything. In short, it goes about as well as you'd expect.)
1. The Forward Flirtations of a Wayward AI

**Notes:** Started and finished writing this back in July. Left it alone until Vrains ended to see if there was too many un-canonical details in here; thankfully Akira is the head of SOLtech like I suspected he'd end up being and SOLtiS still exist and haven't been recalled back to their factories. I mean, Ai is also here and he isn't dead obviously, but then again, apparently Vrains decided that he's not _dead_-dead if the last three seconds are anything to go by. Which is a tiny bit of a cop-out, as it doesn't solve any of the issues Ai has been grappling with in the third season, but then again, since this was written before the end of Vrains, I'm not really grappling with them either. So I feel relatively okay giving this the post-canon tag. Sort of. Since there's a chance Ai could be restored one day, and I imagine Yusaku isn't too thrilled about letting simulations dictate their fate; if he gets Ai back, I imagine he isn't going to give up easily. You never really understand how much you love something until you're faced with the possibility of it being gone for good, after all. So I guess this is set tentatively in the near or far future?

P.S. The explicit stuff won't happen until chaper three...word of warning.

* * *

'_Yusaku-chaaan!_'

The cutesy way his name – and the suffix attached – rings out from behind him, already has Yusaku tense.

So without turning round, he says, very clearly, with no room for argument; 'What is it? If it's something I won't like, I'm not going shopping with you next Tuesday and you'll have to beg someone else to be your personal wallet.'

There's a slight pause. And Yusaku closes his eyes in satisfaction at the thought that Ai is very clearly weighing his options and actually stopping to calculate the risks of annoying Yusaku.

Of course the relief is short-lived.

'No, no!' Ai now breaks in with a slight purr to his tone. 'You'll_ liiiike_ it, I promise~.'

Yusaku pauses. Fights the urge to tap his fingers against the keyboard in irritation. And then turns round and tears himself away from his desk, knowing from experience that Ai will never ever stop, not until he's gotten some scrap of attention from him. And then he stops, shock pounding through his system as his partner grins and flourishes his hands out on either side of him to display…well…

'It's _me,_ after all,' Ai announces, obvious relish in his voice.

'Ai,' Yusaku says weakly, when really, he _should _be turning away, _should _be reinforcing his threat and making Ai yell out for attention again. 'I know there's a spare towel in the bathroom. Use it.'

See here's the thing; the SOLtiS are water-proof – they wouldn't be much use to anyone if they weren't; but it's still advisable not to stick them in a shower or in a bath. Not that has ever stopped Ai of course, who insists on the full experience and so naturally strips off all his clothes each and every time. And has now, as of this moment _forgot to put them back on._

So look, obviously, and _theoretically,_ Yusaku knows that Ai has probably put some thought into how he should appear naked, if he wants to immerse himself in the 'full experience'. Which means that he's probably spent more time than is actually warranted in designing an attractive figure that can fit under those pretentious clothes he likes. Not out of any human-like appreciation for the male form, oh no, but out of sheer vanity. Because it's a form for _him,_ and he may as well look good in it, if he has to appear human at all. Or so Yusaku has always imagined his thought process going.

Not that it matters; because Yusaku can rip his eyes away right now if he wants to, can _totally _turn his back and click away on the keyboard like nothing amiss has happened, and shove Ai back into place, but…

Ai stands before him, all of him as well chiselled, as Yusaku expects. He's muscular, but not overly so, which may have surprised Yusaku at some point in the past, given Ai's past chirps about his 'handsome' form, but no, not anymore. For his human avatar Ai has favoured the weird Goth or Emo-bishie vampire look, or so Ema has pointed out one time, much to Ai's indignation, and according to the sort of manga Ai reads at least, being overly muscular doesn't really fit that image at all. No, Ai has favoured the sleeker look, that's no less powerful, and is more in line with the body Yusaku himself possesses.

The trouble is, and Yusaku doesn't really like to admit this and probably never will, _especially to_ _Ai,_ but his partner is stupidly and ridiculously pretty. Especially now, with water beading over his chest and his hair oiled and shining under the cheap lights of Yusaku's apartment as it falls, like a ribbon over his back in small waves. And also parts, to either side of his neck, the curls heavy and almost straightened with the weight of the moisture. With rivers running from each strand, Ai looks up from beneath the twists of a leaden pink and purple fringe, his eyes narrowed like a panther in the dark, gold and calculating, and horribly, horribly _knowing._

Yusaku's mouth is dry. He doesn't do this, he isn't the guy who gets knocked off his feet and rendered stupid by the sight of someone beautiful. He finds Aoi pretty, sure, but he still retains use over his motor functions when he's around her, heck, even around Revolver he isn't a tongue-tied idiot. And he's dealt with this physical form of Ai's again and again, not as often as when he preened and postured as a small black Ignis but…

Maybe that's exactly the problem. Ai is Ai, someone Yusaku cares for deeply, and so that personality, combined with those looks, has a pull on Yusaku that the body alone would not have.

After all, when he had first seen Ai as he is now, done up in finery with the aid of a Solitis on a _throne_ of all things, he had just thought, 'that's the culprit'. He hadn't even really stopped to consider the 'pretty' factor, used to the way many avatars in the Vrains dressed themselves up as stupidly attractive people themselves.

The only thing now really, that is helping Yusaku, is the glowing green triangle on Ai's neck, the thing that slams home the fact that Ai isn't really a living, breathing body, that can feel attraction, just one that can make a decent play at it, thanks to the manipulations of its owner. Perhaps Ai can sense his gaze being drawn to it, because there's a small, annoyed frown developing on his face, one that says Yusaku's not reacting the way that he should, and he steps forward, a certain something between his legs swinging with each step.

It almost makes Yusaku wants to laugh. Of course Ai would design a penis for himself as well; he may not have quite the same fondness for it as most human males born and raised with one would, but he certainly has enough of an ego to decide that he's worthy of waving one round. And he can probably make it vanish whenever it gets too inconvenient.

Either way, he finds his eyes briefly tracing the curve of it, a little surprised that Ai hadn't got too carried away and turned it into a hulking monster. Instead it's pretty average-sized. Well. He guesses. Not too much bigger than his own at any rate.

'Ooooh, just where do you think you're looking, you pervert?'

Annoyed, Yusaku's eyes switch back to Ai's face, which has, he notices even more irritably, re-developed that cat-like smile again. There's also a hint of that odd, sinuous grace to Ai's steps, one he never quite had in his original body, though a little swagger still worms its way in too, and well, that one's Yusaku's all too familiar with.

'I thought that's what you wanted,' he says, voice clipped, as Ai's hands find his neck and climb up through the strands of hair they find there, curving tenderly into the delicate hollow that marks the end of his skull and the beginning of his spine. The touch is intimate, daring and it awakens a vulnerable feeling in Yusaku that makes his fists clench and a grimace form. He's about to pull away, when Ai aborts the movement, steadily dragging his fingers away and over Yusaku's cheeks.

And then he has the nerve to cluck his tongue, look at Yusaku with mock sadness and shake his head as though Yusaku's being the impossible-to-deal-with-one here.

'Ah, honestly! Your skin's so rough, Yusaku! You don't take care of it, the way you should! That's why we need to go shopping together, so I can get the right moisture-'

'-My skin's fine,' Yusaku says firmly, trying hard not to concentrate on the silicon-softness of Ai's skin on his; warm, like a human, or perhaps warmer, like the beginning of an overheated computer drive, and uncannily smooth, without the need for calluses. 'Just because you can reformat yours every time you're in that body, doesn't mean there's anything wrong with mine; unlike you, I can't hop in and out of it, and it has to be a little rough in order to protect itself.'

Ai looks at him sorely. 'You could always give it a helping hand though.'

His hands drift further, cup Yusaku's face as though he's a parent, or even a lover. He touches, as though he thinks he's got the right, Yusaku thinks, his fists unclenching a little. As though his hands belong there.

It doesn't surprise him, that Ai's being this forward. But it _does _surprise him that Ai is initiating…whatever he thinks this is. He knows Flame was once flattered by Ema, even blushed, but he refuses to believe Kougami programmed any of the Ignis with any sort of sexual drive. For what would be the point?

The capability for romance? Sure, Yusaku'll bite. It's no big secret as to what the precise nature of Earth's feelings for Aqua were. And Ai…well. He knows he's Ai's most important person.

But this, right now…

'Ai,' he says, again, more firmly, stepping back and attempting to pull Ai's hands away; he'll slap them away if he has to. 'Stop this.'

Something flashes in Ai's eyes. 'Oh?' he says, a dangerous note in his voice, as he allows Yusaku to back off. 'Is this handsome body, this perfectly designed embodiment of elegance and-'

'This isn't a duel,' Yusaku cuts in, crossing his arms, and attempting to sound as droll as possible. 'You aren't summoning anything. Hurry up and get to the point.'

Ai's hands, which had now been fluttering over his chest and posturing as though to display his assets, freeze and then drop. 'Urgh,' his partner sneers. 'You have no taste for the fun things in life! Fine! Boring facts and lack of poetry it is then! See if I ever bother getting you roses!'

Ai wouldn't know a good poem if it hit him in the face. In fact Yusaku can clearly remember pouring over his literature homework one night and Ai popping up from the Duel-Disk to flick through the holo-screen to declare the pronouncements of 'boring,' and 'sheesh' and 'why don't these people spend more time outside if they love nature so much?'

'Ai.'

'Argh! All right, all right!' Ai glares at him. 'If this'- he gestures to all of him – 'really isn't to your taste,' he sneers, making it clear that he thinks Yusaku is an idiot for not just going along with this stupid scheme, whatever it actually is, 'then fine! Maybe _this_ is!'

He snaps his fingers with a dramatic flair and suddenly there are two round globs of flesh and fat bouncing into view where before there been a rather decidedly male chest and two nipples.

Yusaku's eyes widen. Because the nipples are still there, just…more protruded and now attached to two pert and stupidly large breasts. Clearly Ai has decided to go with grandiose over practical, a sign that he is either upset or really giddy.

'There!' Ai declares triumphantly, flashing him a pretty wink and doing the weird 'there you go' roll of his hand. 'Feast your eyes on these beauties! Probably the closest you'll ever get to a pair of these anyway. Go on! Have a taste! Squeeze and poke and grope, like a dirty old man!'

Yusaku blinks, recovering somewhat. And then he notices Ai giving a considering glance down below to where his penis still hangs, hand rubbing his chin as his eyes narrow in thought.

And okay, he does not need to see his partner give himself a vagina, just to make Yusaku's life hell.

Yusaku promptly turns his back and brings up a new window on the laptop screen, ignoring the screech of outrage that echoes from behind him. Forget vampire lookalike, Ai is clearly a banshee. 'I'm not fondling anything,' he tells Ai tartly. 'Now, put those away; you look ridiculous.'

'I know!' Ai says heatedly. 'But if you prefer them…well…' and Yusaku tenses as two big, fat round things, with far more bounce than he's ever given a woman's breasts credit for (or maybe Ai is just adjusting their elasticity to ridiculous proportions?) actually push against the firm give of his spine, nestling their way beneath his shoulder blades. Up they drag, slowly, torturously, leaving patches of heat to dance behind Yusaku's clothes as Ai leans forward and wraps his arms lavishly around Yusaku's shoulder, enfolding his chin over one of them in a pose he's probably copying from a soap opera.

You complete and utter shit, Yusaku thinks savagely.

'That's the benefit of being with an AI, Yu-_sa_-**_ku_**,' Ai whispers into his ear sweet as honey, though Yusaku can clearly hear the poison being spread into each cut-out syllable of his name. And flicking his gaze to the shoulder currently supporting the weight of Ai's head, he sees gold eyes narrowed with a cruel, mischievous gaze, delight dancing in their centres. 'You can have whatever you want – I can create it for you with just a few tweaks of code. Much better than any old human.'

Yusaku hesitates. He knows there's been news, traction lately to make SOLtiS designed for sex legal, open and available for public consumption. Of course, in the dirtier channels that's already happened. But still – there's a line. Those things that live in the SOLtiS, the programs that drive them; they're not sentient, not really, not the way Ai is. But Yusaku gets a weird flip in his stomach every time he thinks of it, of the SOLtiS having sex, the programs inside not having any real opinion about what they're told to do, programs that may be as simple and efficient as Roboppy once was, but also, because of that, they therefore have the potential to be built into real people one day, not human people, no, but people none the less.

Is Ai acting out because of this?

Yusaku twists his head to meet Ai's gaze, straight on. 'Why are you offering what I think you're offering?' he asks. 'What do you get out of this?'

Ai draws back a little, feigning hurt. 'Aw, don't you want me, Yusaku?' He even has the nerve to flutter his eyelashes a little. 'I can think of many, many humans who wouldn't be as stubborn about this' – and here he taps the little green gem glistening at his throat – 'as you are. They wouldn't see this _at all._'

'I see a lot more than that,' Yusaku says levelly, turning slightly, and cringing as Ai's boobs promptly fall under his nose. 'Put those away. Now.'

Ai smiles. 'Are you sure you're actually a teenage boy?' he asks, though there's something a little fond about the way he asks it, and the breasts thankfully vanish – Ai's still naked, but Yusaku does feel as though he can breathe a little easier without those things in the way.

'Despite what you might have seen on television, people don't turn into sex-starved maniacs when they come across someone naked,' Yusaku deadpans. 'This isn't one of your soap-operas.'

Ai's eyes become half-lidded. 'But it could be.' He starts rubbing Yusaku's thigh, another hand rolling over Yusaku's knee, and okay Yusaku has had just about enough of this. He promptly slams the roaming hand away and knocks the other aside with a sharp tap.

'Ai,' he hisses out, a very real sense of fury caught up in his voice. 'As you've pointed out already, you're not human. So what exactly is your excuse for groping me?'

Ai pouts, rubbing his hand as though Yusaku has actually managed to hurt him. If only, Yusaku thinks. 'Nothing! Well, I mean, not nothing, just…I want you the same way a lot of humans want those SOLtiS or each other, when they're not too busy being introverts behind their computers. Except more than that. Better than that. Much better.'

Yusaku stares at him. He shakes his head.

'What?' he asks, for once feeling as stupid as he probably sounds.

Much to his annoyance, Ai is eyeing him as though he's thinking the exact same thing. 'You,' says Ai firmly, one of his fingers pointing at Yusaku. 'And me,' he adds with a bright grin, as he twirls it round to point straight at himself. 'Together. Doing a bit of _this _and _that_.' The hand motions he makes alongside those words really aren't helping matters. One of them even looks like he's uncorking a bottle of champagne.

Yusaku scowls. 'Don't be stupid.'

If Ai were a simple SOLtiS, Yusaku would think that perhaps a circuit is fused somewhere, damaging the software inside. But Ai is so much more than that, his programming intricate and cunning, and able to slip out of this body before him at a moment's notice.

But still, Yusaku finds himself staring at Ai and thinking, _this is nonsense. I cannot be hearing this. There is no way my partner, a living artificial intelligence, wants to have sex with me. The instance he sees me eject any sort of fluid, he'd make a face and start squealing about how gross it is. Plus, he likes to laugh at the faces actors pull during sex scenes._

_Maybe he just wants to laugh at __**me.**_

'Ai,' he says, his voice turning gentle, despite his suspicion, because he has to be sure. 'You're alive, like me. But you don't have hormones, or experience attraction, not the way humans do. So what you said before about wanting me the way humans want other humans or machines…that's a lie.'

Ai scowls. 'No, it's not.' His eyes narrow and his voice turns dark, a throaty rumble to it the way there always is when he turns truly angry. 'Oi, Yusaku, don't you go telling me how I feel.'

Okay, Yusaku amends to himself. Maybe he doesn't want to laugh at me. _Maybe._

'Alright,' he mutters, feeling a little chastened at the way Ai's glaring at him. 'Explain it to me. What does it mean to you, to want someone?'

Ai stares, his brow unfurrowing slightly, the anger seeping from his face as he opens his mouth. 'A lot of things,' he states, a decisive note to his voice. 'I know it doesn't always happen that way but some humans only have sex with one person, when they really, really want them, right? When they choose them and decide that they're special. You're special to me, obviously, and I don't want you going round having sex with other people or any other sort of being. Not when you're MY partner. You deserve the best and only I can give it to you! I mean, look at me! I can shape-shift into whatever you need.'

'Thank you,' Yusaku says drolly. 'I feel really special, when you put it like that.'

Ai puffs out his chest. 'Exactly! You should feel honoured!'

You make me sound like your toy, Yusaku thinks irritably. And you're basically throwing a tantrum over the thought of me experiencing something intimate with another person, just because it's not you. He taps his fingers against the desk, and Ai eyes the drumbeat he rolls out there with trepidation.

'I wasn't lying, when I said I wanted you like other humans do. But how can I explain it to you, when you're focused on things like biology? It's more than that. And I can do it better than anyone else.' Without a moment's pause, as though Yusaku had never slapped his hands away, Ai slides those same offending hands back over Yusaku's own and squeezes them gently. 'I promise. I'm not human, but still, when I see the way Aoi sometimes looks at you, or the way some of Playmakers fans fantasise about you online, I recognise it in myself. In here.' One of Ai's hands draws back to pound over his heart, or at least the place his heart would beat within his body if he had one. And then it stills, clenches into a fist. 'But the difference is, I want to please you far more than they ever could.'

Was that it? Yusaku muses. Ai's ego? Wanting to prove he could be the best possible 'partner' to him? No, he doesn't really believe that. Not when Ai speaks like that, all fierce and passionate, using that same voice he does when things gets serious in a duel, when it's do or die and he thinks Yusaku isn't focusing on the right things in order to win.

'Alright,' he says after a moment, pointedly ignoring the way Ai lights up and makes a triumphant fist pump with his right hand. 'I can accept that you want to make me happy. But…' His eyes linger on the LED diamond on Ai's neck that one that screams out unnatural colour, that declares Ai to be something other than human.

Ai cocks his head at him curiously, his gaze following Yusaku's own, before a sharp look of understanding enters his eyes and he freezes. Almost instantly, his fist pump drops, the curl of his fingers flattening away from a rigid palm, as he steps back from Yusaku, his body language suddenly closed off.

'Oh,' he says, with a wry chuckle, the usual light in his eyes shuttering away and becoming wild, the way it did when he went rouge. 'Oh-ho. I didn't take you to be prejudiced that way, my blind, narrow-minded little Yusaku-_chan_.' But the suffix twists in his mouth, comes out cruel and mocking, the same way he sometimes calls Revolver a Professor.

Yusaku steps forward suddenly alarmed. 'Ai,' he begins…and never finishes, his words frozen, shut in his throat as Ai casts him a look so full of scorn that he fumbles, unsure how to make this right. And the next second it ends up not mattering at all, as Ai flees the body, in a shattering of blue pixels, leaving the much less attractive SOLtiS mainframe to crash down against the floor.

Yusaku stares at it, and feels a great hole open up in his stomach. But still, he finds himself heaving it onto its side, rolling it up against the wall in a futile hope of keeping it undamaged until at least Ai comes back. He hopes.

* * *

Ai doesn't come back.

This doesn't really surprise him. Sure, it hurts; but he understands. Ai thinks him some strange bigot, one who feels it's fine to be friends with an AI, but to take it further than that is a big no-no. And he's not…wrong, exactly.

Yusaku just doesn't think it's fair on Ai, or on himself, to do what his partner has been insinuating they do. Is it right, to expect Ai to want the same things Yusaku does, even if he can't derive the same sort of pleasure from them?

Yusaku doesn't think so. It makes him feel guilty to even contemplate it. And yet, if he is going to have sex with anyone, one day, Yusaku would prefer it to be someone who can feel the same things he can. That sort of rules Ai out as an option.

Still, his last encounter with Ai haunts him, enough to make him take a sort of guilty interest in the public debate over the usage of SOLtiS in the sex trade is going. It doesn't surprise him that Akira's taking a public stance against it; the AI that programs the SOLtiS maybe be rudimentary, but Akira's has seen enough of the Ignis and Roboppy to accept the idea that they have the potential to grow, to become beings with their own ideas on the matter one day. More importantly, right now, they're like fragments, fragments of children, in a way. The idea of anyone wanting to have sex with that probably makes Akira queasy.

Still, Yusaku finds himself frowning, an edge of anger licking at his mind as news starts leaking over the net of people ending up in hospital, with burns on their hands, and complaining of how the SOLtiS have developed a flaw by unleashing an electrical discharge over the actual physical body. It's no isolated flaw by no means, especially when, in a matter of hours, video footage starts to be uploaded onto the net, footage carefully gathered from the webcams installed in laptops and from certain angles that indicate the use of a floating drone hovering carefully out of human eyesight beside high-rise apartments. Yusaku flickers his gaze over to the space where his Duel-Disk is now missing and grits his teeth.

Yusaku shouldn't really view the footage, but he does, already knowing in his gut what he's probably about to see. And sure enough, feeling disgust churn his stomach, Yusaku watches a SOLtiS paw the ground in confusion, the vacant expression on its face looking particularly bone-chilling as the head is craned to an angle that could easily snap a human neck in two. There's some other stuff that happens in the video, other stuff that would have resulted in the human being drawn up on murder charges if the victim was actually, you know, human, and it soon has Yusaku exiting the playback function entirely. If anyone were to do to Ai, what has been done to that SOLtiS…

Yusaku's hands twitch. It's an impossibility, he knows. Ai is far too quick and smart to be locked up in a situation like that by a human in the real world. Still. His imagination doesn't take note and for one rage inducing moment he imagines Ai with his head flung back, a very real look of panic on his face while-

Yusaku ruthlessly pulls himself away from his computer. He could – _will_ – never do to Ai what those people have done to their SOLtiS. But is there really a difference between him and them, if he wants to do things with Ai that Ai can't really experience any sort of proper pleasure with?

No, he tells himself, attempting to sink back in denial. No. I'll make Ai see that.

But first – he needs to stop Ai before Ai takes things too far. _Again. _


	2. The Frisky Foreplay of a Wayward AI

There are other virtual worlds aside from the Vrains, other countries and distracts, cities, hosting their own servers. Yusaku could log in to any of them, even if he wasn't an experienced hacker, except now of course, the Vrains is connected to them in a way it wasn't even a year ago. Still, that means nothing if Ai has decided he doesn't want to be found, even with Yusaku's handy power of the Link Sense to guide him.

Yusaku grimaces; it's not in him to wait around especially since those three months where Ai had been gone, dead, beyond his reach, had been hard enough. So Yusaku takes a gamble, and plugs himself in, armed only with his best scouting programs as well as a few borrowed from Ema, who has always excelled in that sort of subterfuge.

'Good luck finding Ai-chan, okay?' her message coos at him, marked off with a stylish kiss and Yusaku cringes. He shouldn't forget how sharp she and his other friends are, and dimly, he makes a mental note to catch up with Revolver and the other former Knights of Hanoi and attempt to smooth things over with them. He's not sure how, but as long as they don't attempt to murder Ai again, he'll have to do whatever it takes.

But finding Ai comes first, though hopefully there isn't a duel waiting for him when he does so. Yusaku can win, but Ai knows his strategies inside and out, and he has his own version of a human instinct that can sometimes help him seize hold of an unexpected opportunity.

This draws Yusaku up short and he hesitates, pulling his hover-board to a stop. Because, instinct, yes, Ai does have that to a certain extent...but it's still a far cry from experiencing an actual sexual desire for someone. And Ai lacks the biological components for such a thing. No, Yusaku's just being wistful.

So he continues his search, trailing through empty blue spaces, and space-station look-a-likes streaked with patterns that resemble upside-down city blocks. They're good, good enough to fool the average eye until you get up close and personal, and see how grainy they look in comparison to real concrete.

Eventually green islands appear, floating in the sky around him, and Yusaku skilfully weaves through them, casting out his programs as he does so. And all the ones that bob like little fairies, glowing and weaving through his fingers, scatter through the sky and vanish within seconds. It's still a little naïve to think that this will be enough to find Ai though.

Then again, Ai likes to boast about his achievements, good or bad, and Yusaku's betting on that character flaw now. So he's not surprised when one of Ema's light flutters back a few minutes later, now daubed a mauve purple and resembling more of a funky disco-ball then the Tinkerbell glow it emitted before. It's also carrying a message that gives him a set of co-ordinates, marked off at the end with a cheeky Ai emoticon.

Yusaku sighs, and observes the gleam of the disco-ball beside him. He's just glad Ema has a sense of humour; she's probably be tickled pink at the sight of an Ignis messing with her pride and joy and be all too happy to try and shred it apart, in hopes of decoding some of Ai's advanced programming hacks and utilising them for herself.

His musings are cut short as a purple cloud drifts in from the horizon in a glittering, gleaming mass that quickly dives towards him like a swarm of locusts.

Oh, he thinks, as his heart sinks into his skin-tight boots. Oh Ai…

The cloud pulls up short in front of him, hundreds of Ema's pride and joy now revamped into a garnish set of disco-balls that twinkle at him, before they re-arrange themselves into the shape of Ai's smug Ignis-form face.

'Don't keep me waiting, Playmaker.'

It's Ai's voice, the more upbeat, higher-pitched one he uses in his Ignis form, and it booms out from the host of programs in an extremely annoying way; enough to make Yusaku grimace.

'Don't worry; I'll revert all these beauties back to normal, so long as you promise not to drag Revolver or any of his dull-witted croonies into this.'

The line of Yusaku's mouth tightens. Does Ai honestly think he'll sell him out like that?

'Hmmm…' says the giant face, expression now rearranged into one of faux-thoughtfulness. 'Looks like you're clean though. There's no trace of their data. Yosh! Good boy.'

The cloud lengthens, and abruptly a shoulder and skinny Ignis arm, many times the size of the one Yusaku's used to seeing, bursts out of it and attempts to pet him on the head. Yusaku instantly swivels his board round and performs a brusque loop-the-loop around the wrist in question, before scowling up at the now far-too-gleeful-looking Ai face.

'Alright,' says the Ai face as though he had never attempted to patronise Yusaku by treating him as though he were a _dog_. 'I think you've suffered enough. So come along, then! It's rude to keep a date waiting!'

Yusaku does not sigh, the way many other people in his situation would probably do. But he does roll his shoulders a little, grimly rest his eyes on the horizon and start making his way to the co-ordinates Ai's set out for him.

* * *

Ai is hovering in mid-air, in his Ignis form when Yusaku spots him beneath a group of trees on a small, floating island. Relief filling his chest, Yusaku quickly zooms down, the board shattering into fragments of data as he leaps onto the grass.

'Ai!'

'Hmph!' Ai crosses his arms and pointedly sticks his nose – or rather the front of his face – up in the air. 'I hope you're okay with this form at least.' He gestures to all of himself with the air of someone who knows he's not in the wrong.

Well, Yusaku thinks grimly, that remains to be seen, Ai.

'Of course, I'm equally handsome, no matter what body I'm in,' Ai continues, uncrossing his arms and floating a little closer to Yusaku. 'But we don't want you getting distracted now, do we? We all know how weird humans are about being intimate with an AI.'

'Ai,' says Yusaku tiredly, well aware that Ai is not looking contrite in the least. 'I understand why you probably feel disgusted with some humans right now. I don't approve of what they're doing either. But you can't keep putting them in the hospital.'

Looking annoyed, Ai waves a hand dismissively. 'Pah! They deserved it! Those SOLtiS may not be advanced as I am, but the way they're being treated is so typical of humans! If it doesn't have a heartbeat, then it isn't _alive_, it can't _love,_ it can't_ feel_…' he contorts his body with each emphasised word, gives his voice a whiny, high pitch that's designed to discomfort the human hearing range, and then gives Yusaku a glowering look from two heavily slanted eyes that glow like lanterns. 'Then it can be thrown away like trash.'

Yusaku blinks. 'I never threw you away!'

Ai snorts. 'I know,' he mutters. 'But you still think I'm a joke. You think I can't really love you. Not properly.'

Yusaku hesitates. He has to tread carefully here. 'I think you can't feel lust for me,' he attempts to explain. 'You're not built for it. And it's not your fault, but it's not mine either. I need, no, I should be with someone who can want to have sex with me, not because it's a chore to keep me satisfied.'

Ai narrows his eyes at the hasty correction of 'need' to 'should.'

'Huh,' he says after a moment, and Yusaku becomes aware of the slight shift in the atmosphere, as Ai's expression clears, his eyes becoming wider, and more open. 'Oh, _Playmaker~,_' and _oh no_, now he's sounding downright _playful_. Grimly, Yusaku braces himself for the worse of it. 'You really are pretty stupid sometimes, aren't you?'

He laughs, and claps his hands together, sounding a lot more cheerful as he drifts quite amicably into Yusaku's space. And Yusaku's sense of danger, for once quite distinct from his Link Sense, tingles.

'And what does that say about you, if you came from such a 'stupid' person?' he asks waspishly.

If Ai had a mouth in this form, Yusaku gets the impression it would be grinning from ear-to-_well_, okay, it would stretch from one side of his face to the other. As it is, Ai's eyes are up-curved, as though he actually possesses dimples.

'That I was quite literally made for you,' he says grandly, the timbre of his voice changing, altering into the one he uses for his human form. And the next second, all the proportions of him lengthen, spreading out into a black cloud of writhing limbs that flatten and wrap themselves around Yusaku like some form of heavy blanket.

Yusaku doesn't shout or scream, but he does step back with a gasp. He isn't truly frightened, not of _Ai_, but it's still a shock to have something wrap around him all of a sudden. And then it's practically over as soon as it begins, as the limbs shrink and turn more firm, changing colour and shifting until Yusaku is left with an armful of Ai, humanoid Ai. And Ai grins at him lavishly, all warm and cold at once, as is often his way, and Yusaku's foot keeps falling back, slipping through the grass as he fumbles, surprised by the new weight against him.

Ai has the time to let out a swift snigger, before he's weaving his way round Yusaku , and catching him, before they both end up tumbling to the ground. And Yusaku finds himself blinking up at the sky, watching the patchwork of green tree-tops litter the blue spread of it, before the curls of Ai's hair crash down in from above, slithering into view as Ai tilts his head to grin at him.

'See? You're already falling for me.'

Yusaku frowns and struggles upright, shoving Ai away none too gently. 'Ai,' he says, in his sternest possible voice. 'You can't go around attacking humans anymore! Promise me!'

Ai hums and leans forward, not deterred in the slightest by Yusaku's heavy glare. 'I haven't actually put anyone in a coma,' he says, not sounding as apologetic as he should. 'And if the SOLtiS do develop self-awareness, well, I AM going to help them. If that hinders or hurts the humans abusing them, then I'm not going to care all that much.' He shrugs, and Yusaku sort of wants to hit him, even if he does understand where Ai's coming from.

'But,' Ai adds airily, 'a lot of people got humiliated pretty badly today, and I have enough faith in Zaizen to know he's going to use my risqué little films to strength his position in the public debate forum. And _if _the SOLtiS ever do develop enough to actually want to do the hanky-panky with humans of their own free will-' Ai shrugs. 'I won't stop them.'

Yusaku nods slowly after a moment, it's not a promise, not exactly, and both he and Ai know it. It leaves Ai with far too much leeway, but on the other hand Yusaku can't force blind obedience from him either. At this point, he'll take what he can get and make it work for both of them.

Ai grins, and reaches down to seize Yusaku's hands. 'Now, where were we? Ah, yes, sorting out your stupidity.'

Yusaku stares at him. 'I don't know what new idea you've got in your head, but this doesn't change anything.'

Ai makes a face. 'Oh, stop being annoying!' He tilts his head to one side, looping his fingers through Yusaku's and bringing both of their hands up into the typical arch-like poses Yusaku's seen the interlaced hands of magical girl characters in anime do when the producers are playing up the yuri angle. 'You're right about one thing though; I can't get physical pleasure from sex the way you do. I can get plenty of things from it, and I'm sure touching you will feel pretty nice, but the, ah orgasms and such, are things outside my programming's reach.'

Yusaku nods, enjoying the feel of Ai's hands locked within his own. It sends a nice tingle through his skin here, similar to the small electrical current he feels infusing his human body when Ai brushes against him at home. It's not entirely the same, but it's similar.

Ai smiles, long and slow. And perhaps, a little snide. 'In here, however, is a different matter.' A cautious look appears on his face, and he actually looks a little nervous as he says, 'hey, Playmaker, I want to try something. It won't hurt you, and I'm not going to let it damage you, and I promise you'll still be you, no matter what, but…it might help you understand that I'm not some androgynous ken-doll.'

Yusaku eyes him. This is weird. Usually Ai throws him headfirst into some new experience and expects Yusaku to surpass his own limitations and keep up. Still. Despite everything, he trusts Ai.

'Alright,' he says after a brief moment of worried thought.

Ai's smile is a wild and vicious, a brilliant thing in response. 'Don't regret it, Playmaker,' he says lowly, like an actual villain, and yeah, Yusaku already actually kind of _is_.

But now it's too late; for the ground shifts, the grass peeling away into the colours of brown and then autumn red, as giant rose petals rise up and unfurl to surround and encase their bodies. Up they rise, growing gigantic, the pixels shifting across their bodies like luscious ropes as Yusaku's grip on Ai's hand tightens. He won't say he's scared, he'll never admit that but…but!

'Oi,' says Ai leaning in close, the gold in his eyes turning into shimmering points of light as the petals seal away the sky. 'Playmaker, it's okay. You don't need to ride the wind this time. No, I'm in control here.'

And now…how to describe what happens? There is no language, no human one at least that can extrapolate what Yusaku experiences next. He can't register Ai's hands around his own anymore, can't feel his feet. He feels as though he's drifting, no, _soaring_, lines of code unspooling before his eyes. No, he _is _the lines of code, and so is Ai, who is wrapped around and in him, too tightly meshed with his own data to pull apart, to shake and yell at.

Yusaku can see so much right now, can see the intricate weaves of Ai, that complex wave and shift of thought that calculates and reweaves its own form, can see the data of the island, of the sky around them, as it appears in a binary format. More than that, he is a part of it, he feels powerful and lost at the same time. He has no hands, no arms, not like this, but still he attempts to draw something of himself through the being that is Ai.

_-Ai, Ai, what is this, I'm not like you, but right now I am, you feel like a heart, pulsing, all of you, all of this, how do you stand it-_

_-Yusaku, Yusaku-_

_-Ai, how could anyone not think you're alive? If they ever saw this, felt this, they could never – I feel you, you feel alive, always moving-_

_-I'm just doing what I'm programmed for, same as you and any other human, but with brains and blood and all that messy junk-_

_\- I must disgust you, I will disgust you, you don't know what you're asking, I've never had sex but I'm sure it's not like this-_

_-Of course not, you're human, there's no escaping it, but how could anything of you be bad? How are your guts any different from my circuitry? Well, mine are __better__ of course, more efficient-_

Yusaku tunes Ai out, it's easy in this dizzying blend of data that is not quite colourful but still is, blue, green, white and black, though perhaps that is only an imposition by Yusaku's human brain, too used to perceiving things with colour inside them to see data in it's true raw format…

He's losing track of himself. But here, even now, in this wonder, he can feel annoyance. And he uses that to motivate himself, to swipe a careless part of himself through Ai, through a part of his data that loops over him like the coil of a hungry python.

And Ai immediately flails, great erratic waves of him beating and breaking against Yusaku like an ocean. It's overwhelming, massive, and in here Yusaku can't suffocate, has no throat, with which to articulate or gasp with, but wow, he's an idiot, Ai is an advanced AI who can dismantle and control data in a way Yusaku can't, who is going to crush him, wipe him out, with a single line of programming-

_-Oooooh, Playmaker-sama, you bold and naughty thing!-_

But Ai draws back quickly, probably a lot more keenly aware of the effect of him rearing up against Yusaku has on him.

_-Still, I think I'm a little too advanced for you like this? We're better off fooling around in the real world. Where you can keep up.-_

Yusaku twists and shoves against him weakly, even as the familiar coils, tendrils of what Ai is, slither over him, meshing against the sides of whatever he is in here with a tangled caress similar to seaweed. It feels…what is feeling in here? Not biological, certainly. But there's a wonder to it, a rush to it, and he can understand why Ai's offended at the thought of Yusaku thinking of him as a straight-lanced program without any concept of physical pleasure.

_-I must be crazy, this is strange, what am I doing, what are you doing. All these threads and numbers and this shouldn't be possible, how can this be a representation of information? You're touching me and yet you're not and how is this an-_

_-You are chatty, like this, aren't you? Never thought I'd see the day. Just call it what it is Yusaku, an embrace, a hug, a stupid touch, you think things have to be possible? They have to be __**real,**__ you taught me that-_

_-I don't think this can be taught, you don't feel human-_

_-Of course not, why would I the great and marvellous- _

_-But not like a pet-_

_-W-H-A-T-_

_-either, definitely not a thing, a heart, a heart, maybe, I don't have the words, humans weren't meant for this Ai, I'm breaking apart-_

_-Humans weren't meant for a lot of things and yet still here you all are. But only you are HERE now-_

Yusaku pauses, lets the lines of him settle, drift against Ai.

_-Ai, stop. I'll go insane-_

_-Yep, you sure will! But it's good that you see all this, this is what I want out there, with your true body, just as you know me here, truly. I want to know you, every part, the way you humans always think you know something by trying to have sex with it. I want to join with you like how we are joined now. I want to explore you the way I let you explore me, here, now_-

Feeling brave, and yes, vindictive, Yusaku twists himself through Ai, through that wrapping weave of strings and numbers, dives straight on in, as though Ai is nothing more than a simple data storm. The experiance doesn't feel like masturbation, is nothing like an orgasm, but it's intense and deep and sends Ai flailing, his strings of code erratic.

_-Yes, yes, like that, like that!-_

_-It won't be the same-_

_-Why would I want it to be? I would be worried if it was. You're human Yusaku. I don't always like humans, but I wouldn't want you to be something different-_

The rose petals from earlier burst from around their forms, scattering into flecks of red data and then pouring out over the edges of the island into specks of pink dust that fade from view. And Yusaku gasps, falling to his knees, Ai crashing down with him, hands tightly wrapped round his shoulders. Yusaku gasps and gasps, the green of the grass below him suddenly blinding – since when has he forgotten what _real_ colour is – and so he waits for the pleasure, the great incredible spark of knowing Ai so intimately, to wear off.

'I used to do something similar with Roboppy,' Ai says conversationally. 'But for much briefer interludes of time. And not quite as deeply. They weren't like you. They think so linearly. Your thoughts fly in all sorts of niche directions, like mine. It's so freeing.'

Yusaku breathes in, even though he can't here, not really and looks up. He swallows. 'Ai,' he says, and then gets stuck.

'Oh?' asks Ai, one delicate eyebrow rising. 'Come to offer up an apology?'

Yusaku thinks about it. 'Sure,' he says grudgingly, after a moment, 'I'm sorry.'

Ai grins and warps him up in an enthusiastic hug. 'Aww! You're so sweet sometimes!'

Yusaku lets the hug last a few moments more, then shrugs him off. 'We…' he hesitates. 'I don't care what other people might say-'

Ai snorts disbelievingly.

'-but are you okay with it? Or are you only doing this because you've run a simulation and the result turns out to be to your liking?'

Ai's gaze narrows, the familiar, menacing signs of calculation running behind each pupil in the form of golden stream of binary data. 'No, that would be lame. I'm tempted, don't get me wrong. But I don't want something like that dictating what I decide to share with you.' He stares at Yusaku a moment. 'I can't promise I won't run other simulations though about our future,' he warns, as though that's all Yusaku has to worry about.

Yusaku gives up; whatever will happen will happen. He's sure there's information Ai's holding back like always, but he can't be bothered to chase it up. Besides, it's not as though his choices have always made everybody else around him happy all the time either. And Kusanagi-san is always going on at him about restarting his life, and moving on with it.

'Alright,' he says, as he clambers to his feet. 'But if we do this, you mustn't laugh at me, alright? Otherwise I'll put a stop to it, right away.'

Ai strokes his fingers. 'Ah, you're so sensitive….but if it makes you happy, fiiiine, I'll reign myself in, I promise~.'


	3. The Fruitful Fornication

Yusaku almost tumbles out of the pod at home. Kicking a loose tangle of wires away (he really should see to that), he manages to stumble over to the crumpled body of the abandoned SOLtiS, and is unsurprised to it already unfurling as data swirls round it and almost tidily deposits the hard light projection of Ai's human form over it. Which is a naked one. Naturally.

...Maybe Yusaku should have bothered to re-dress it.

Anyway…

'Yeesh,' says Ai after a moment, a loose chunk of plaster from above nearly landing on his head as he slithers upright. 'You really should take better care of this body, you know!'

Yusaku folds his arms. 'It's your fault for abandoning it so suddenly,' he informs Ai, poker-faced, feeling a swell of satisfaction over the way Ai grumbles and looks away. The next second Ai brightens and magically recovers as he straightens, then sways into Yusaku's space as though he has a right to be there.

'Come on,' he says, curling his fingers in the universal 'come here' gesture. 'Take 'em off!' He gestures to Yusaku's clothes and then narrows his eyes, leering in what Yusaku feels to be a pretty good impression of a crazed sexual deviant. 'Or would you like me to tear them off for you? You into that?'

Yusaku rolls his eyes. 'No,' he says pointedly. 'I don't need you ruining more of my stuff.'

He shrugs off his black shirt over the sound of Ai's indignant sputtering, then, eyes fixed on the floor, makes his way over to the bed, sits, and starts to shrug off his socks, and unfasten his belt. It hits him then, all of a sudden, what _exactly_ he may be getting himself into, the zipper of his jeans sliding down away steadily under a hand that doesn't tremble, not in the least. Only, maybe it slightly…_quivers._

He takes a deep breath. Like hell, he's backing out now.

'My stubborn Yusaku.'

A shadow falls over him, and then Ai's presence crowds him in, as the other kneels before him, sliding his hands round Yusaku's face to lift his chin. 'We could do this anywhere; I could take you on a cruise, to a hotel, wherever you like: just say the word.'

Yusaku frowns, and decides not to ask where Ai is planning to get the money from in order to fulfil any of these grandiose plans. Instead he tilts his head and asks, all with his customary deadpan look: 'what's wrong with here?'

Ai eyes a crack on the wall, plaster falling off around it like hardened slabs of fruit peel. '…As you wish,' he says after a moment, before he yanks at Yusaku's jean loops. 'Here, stand up; _I'll _handle this part.'

Yusaku shrugs inwardly and obeys, and in a matter of seconds, Ai has yanked both his jeans and underwear down, leaving Yusaku to step rather clumsily out of them. Ai grins, face to face with Yusaku's penis and flicks it, gently.

'Hello there, little Yusaku,' he coos, and Yusaku suddenly has the over powering urge to yank his jeans back on again.

'If you're going to call it that, we're stopping this, right here and now,' he says tightly.

But Ai just looks at him, smiles, and pushes him down to the bed again. 'My, my, don't be so hasty. You should give programs like me a trial run, before you dismiss them.'

He leans up over Yusaku, and Yusaku watches the artificial skin pool out into the light over the arch of Ai's body, disrupted only by the joints and cracks of the SOLtiS; it spreads across his gaze like pale splotches of wet paint. Maybe such a sight would be too much for some people, but as it is, all Yusaku feels is the urge to reach up and pull at one of Ai's curls, just to see if he can shatter that smug look in those gold eyes above, and no sooner than he thinks this, then Ai's hair is slathering down against his chest, curling into his neck as the other pushes his mouth into his, gold eyes now hidden from view as they close.

And…the kiss is strange. A little rubbery. Smooth, not at all wet, not the way Yusaku can picture a human mouth being. In all fairness, it's not as though he has a great deal of experience to go on. None at all, in fact. Touching people, let alone kissing them, isn't something Yusaku does, and he clamps down on the slight flutter of panic he feels as Ai's push of a kiss turns a tad more gentle, as though sensing his hesitation.

He wants to enjoy this. He _will _enjoy this.

Besides, it looks like Ai's got this 'touching' thing down; the other's hand is already fastening on his shoulder squeezing gently and Yusaku takes that as his cue to open his mouth, not entirely surprised when a facsimile of a human tongue pokes its way in. Unlike the lips around it, there is a hint of moistness to it, and Yusaku spares a moment to wonder how exactly Ai's managed that, before Ai shifts, his mouth moving as his tongue struggles against Yusaku's. Both of them are clumsy, unpractised, punishing each other with teeth and tongue, both real and fake, but there's a weird sort of pull here, a magnetism to the push of another mouth working over his. Yusaku fights and chases after Ai, a little disturbed at how easily he's falling into this, and Ai chuckles, sending a pleasant hum vibrating through his lips in return.

Yusaku thumps at his shoulder lightly and Ai draws back, sending a lingering half-lidded look down at him that sends a spike of heat down to his stomach.

'You,' pants out Yusaku, hating how weak and desperate he sound after a single kiss, but unlike Ai, he needs to breathe. '…said you wouldn't…laugh.'

Ai's eyelids flutter, a veil over the emotion that flares in them. 'Are you actually complaining?' he asks, his voice falling into a low, seductive drag of sound, one that Yusaku's willing to bet he's copying from some soap opera or romantic drama. And then he ducks down and presses his lips against Yusaku's again, letting a loud hum tumble through, a full-on mechanical thrum that rolls through him and into Yusaku. Yusaku bucks, the tingle rolling through his skin, and for the next few minutes he chases the sounds Ai sends through, fighting back as best he can, with teeth and tongue and lips.

It's a little unfair really, Ai doing things that a human can't, but then again, isn't this exactly what he'd promised Yusaku he would do? Do _this_ better than anyone else can? Of course he is going to _cheat._

'Mmm,' Ai says eventually, pulling back, with his lips, Yusaku notices with satisfaction, looking suitably nibbled at. The next second the roughed-up look of them is gone, smoothed away as they return to their default state of perfection and Ai sniggers at the look on Yusaku's face.

Yusaku yanks on a loose curl in warning and glares.

'You're breaking your promise!' he says harshly.

And Ai sniggers some more. 'Sorry, sorry! But hey, I'm sniggering, not laughing, not really…'

Yusaku frowns. Honestly, there's something else bothering him more. 'Bring it back,' he demands. 'Your mouth, the way it was…it's not fair if you can change my appearance and I can't change yours.'

Ai, whose eyes were beginning to narrow in annoyance at the beginning of the command, pauses, his expression smoothing out as he contemplates Yusaku's logic. 'Hmm,' he says. 'Alright. But only because I'm so nice and I like spoiling you.'

And then his lips revert back to their roughened look. And Yusaku rears up in response, hands seizing the side of Ai's face, clutching at a few loose curls as he comes alive, hacking at Ai's mouth with the desperate heave of his teeth and his plundering tongue. Click, click, goes his jaws, and Ai's laugh flutters out between them, into him, low and dark.

'Oh-ho, _there's_ that instinct I got from you.'

And down he crashes on Yusaku returning the motions with equal determination, biting and sucking, even if his mouth is not as wet or as warm as Yusaku's own. He tears into him, eager, the way Yusaku knew he would be, and after a few minutes they eventually detach, Yusaku's breaths rolling out of his mouth and reverberating against Ai's chest.

Ai smiles and smoothes one palm over Yusaku's heaving ribs. 'You're like mochi. Soft wherever I touch.'

Yusaku huffs out a breath from his nose, secretly amused. 'Don't get any ideas,' he says. 'I don't want any cracked ribs from you pressing down too hard.'

Ai pouts at him. 'Don't be like that! I'm being really nice here, and you're being mean!'

'You knew what you were getting into,' Yusaku tells him, thoroughly unrepentant. 'Don't expect me to start changing now.'

Ai shrugs, reaches up with one hand to slide it through Yusaku's hair. 'Kissing's fun,' he offers up. 'It's like a duel, trying to think ahead and make everything slot together into something that will work. But I'm not just working against you this time, but with you too. So not totally like a duel. And I do like seeing you lose some of that prim control of yours.' He smiles widely. 'Let's see if we can make you lose some more, hmm?'

He slides down Yusaku's body, cunning as a snake, and with a hint of alarm, Yusaku realises his intention as he raises his head.

'Ai,' he says warningly, 'you…'

'Relaaaaax,' Ai sings out, giving him a comforting pat on the thigh, something which, surprisingly, doesn't console Yusaku at all. 'You won't regret it.'

And with that he opens his mouth – his un-wet mouth, Yusaku realises with a dim sense of dismay – and starts sliding it over Yusaku's penis. The heat is immense, a furnace that doesn't quite burn, and Yusaku's head knocks back against the bed, every part of him working not to let out a moan. Would a human mouth be this warm? Could it ever be?

Yusaku gathers the strength to spare a glance down at his partner and half-wishes he didn't. For Ai _is_ attractive, curls flying everywhere, nose buried in Yusaku's pubic hair, and even if he wasn't drawing warm tingles of heat over Yusaku's dick with the combination of his clever tongue and gentle press of carefully manufactured teeth, Yusaku would probably get fully hard in about two seconds flat at the sight of him. As it is, all he can do is stare gormlessly down at Ai, glare melting away, and buck up rather helplessly towards that horribly cunning mouth. For once, no thoughts are sailing through his mind, no worries burying themselves deep, and Ai holds his hips steady, re-forging every nerve down there in the pit of his belly into a long flutter of rising heat.

Yusaku yelps, heels pressing down into the bed and wrinkling the sheets as he struggles, a rising wave of pleasure rolling through him, making his hips rise even further against the prison of Ai's machine-strong hands. And then they jolt up, maybe once, maybe twice, before they crash back down to the bed again.

Yusaku blinks, stars and white heat bursting from before his eyes and feeling a little small suddenly, he glances down to see Ai pulling away, satisfaction written on every part of his face as white fluid drips around his now-closed mouth.

'Good boy,' says Ai genially, like Yusaku's his pet, his _hostage_, and then he curves over Yusaku, smashing their lips together with a viciousness that make their teeth clank. And urgh, Yusaku can taste _himself _and it's not pleasant. And yet, he feels no need to shove Ai away, so he does his best to return the kiss, to open himself up, despite how heavy his bones now feel within his skin.

He even manages a weak smile as Ai pulls back and away. 'Get anything from that?' he asks, voice quivering, but just a bit.

Ai beams. 'Lots!' he declares. 'You're so cute with the way you squirm and moan-'

Was I moaning, Yusaku thinks, uncomfortable. Or is that just an embellishment from Ai?

'-I love it, every uncoordinated pattern of movement, every minute shift and shake, all of you is so interesting, Yusaku!' Ai stares at him, not a trace of lust on his face the way there should be in an ideal world. 'There's a beauty in the way you fall apart under me – though I'm not sure if you can feel it.'

Makes sense, Yusaku thinks. Ai likes chaos.

'As long as you're getting something out of it,' he manages.

Ai smiles, pulling his hand through Yusaku's hair confidently. 'You can always get something out of anything. So long as you're looking.' Then he grins wickedly. 'Now let's get onto what you humans always seem to think of as the main event!'

Oh, thinks Yusaku, suspicion sneaking up on him. _Oh._

Unaware of the turn his partner's thoughts are taking, Ai slides back further, his hands drifting to roam all over Yusaku in smooth undulating lines; it's as though he thinks Yusaku is clay he can mould to his will, though he is at least careful with each firm press of his fingers. His gaze, meanwhile, is curious and intent, not passionate in the way Yusaku thinks a human's would be in this position, but still emitting a similar intensity of its own. It's ruined a little by the grin he wears when Yusaku wiggles, and to his horror, he actually _squeaks _when Ai's fingers drift over his ribs, and halt in their exploration to dig in for a quick tickle.

'_No_,' Yusaku manages, shoving him away and Ai shrugs, before getting up to whirl away into Yusaku's bathroom. Yusaku is expecting it of course, but can't help but feel a little trepidation when Ai practically dances back to the bed, a bottle of ointment in his hand. Ointment Yusaku has a sinking feeling in his stomach about.

'Where did you get that from?' he asks point-blank, and Ai just offers him a wink in return.

Yusaku gives up. But not entirely. 'What makes you think you're sticking anything of yours inside me?' he asks, letting his voice bite out into the suddenly tense atmosphere.

Ai pauses. 'Oh.' He blinks, despite not needing to, and then his eyes grow comically wide. 'Oh!'

'Yes,' says Yusaku tightly, glad he has managed to read the situation correctly before Ai gets carried away again. 'Oh.'

Ai pauses, looking oddly disappointed. Then he shrugs. 'Hmm…well, I can create an opening for myself, and you can do me!'

Yusaku's not sure what sort of face he's making, but it makes Ai shrug again.

'Anything you like. I'm not fussed.'

I am, Yusaku thinks. Ai's done a pretty good job emulating a human mouth – the insides feel a little too smooth at times, but there's enough warmth for Yusaku to work with, to respond to in all the right ways…but the thought of sticking his dick inside an AI-made opening feels a little too much like jacking it into a pillow for his taste.

'Maybe another time,' he manages.

'Oh.' Ai flumps onto the bed with a disappointed sigh, knocking the bottle of lube into the covers with a sulky finger.

Yusaku eyes him for a moment. It could be that Ai is trying to guilt him into agreeing, but usually such stunts involve a lot more wailing on Ai's part. Plus, well…

'Why would you actually want to…penetrate me?' he asks wincing inwardly. May as well be direct about these things.

Ai stares at him in amazement. 'Because then I get to see your cute face fall apart!' he exclaims. 'And I get to know it's all because of me!'

Yusaku can't believe he's actually considering this. Is he curious? Well, oddly, yes. Besides if there is anyone in the world he is going to do this sort of thing with, well, may as well be with the one person he's fallen apart for, on a very literal level.

'Okay,' he says. 'But if I tell you to stop…'

But Ai is already nodding like an overeager puppy receiving praise, clambering back over him with the bottle in hand. Almost like he knows Yusaku would say yes all along, which leaves a bitter taste in Yusaku's mouth. Then again, the sooner it's over and done with, the sooner Yusaku can say if he's truly made a mistake of not.

He doesn't hold any romantic notion of sex, but he's well aware, that for him, at least, it requires a certain element of trust with another person. And while Ai has broken his trust before, yes, the trouble is, as Yusaku's all too aware, he loves him far too much to hold it against him.

Thankfully, Ai is, to his credit, being careful. Being slow. As though he can sense Yusaku's thoughts on the matter.

'You're so tense,' he murmurs softly. 'Here, let me sort that out.'

And so now they waste a few more minutes kissing again, rolling over and into each other, as though locked in a toddler's version of play-fighting, with nothing sinister behind the motions at all. Ai proceeds to touch him all over, rolls his hands gently over the places of Yusaku's back, before drawing light, little gasps out of him as he presses kisses against his stomach. He shows no hint of disgust over the way Yusaku's skin is imperfect, has moles and pinheads the way that his own does not.

'Come on,' Ai murmurs, pauses to glance up at him through a set of smoky eyelashes – Yusaku is sure he's doing this on purpose. 'I know you like this form of mine. Go wild!'

So Yusaku does. He touches Ai, mapping his chest, before running his hands carefully through his hair. And if his touches are a little more tender than perhaps your average human could understand, when it comes to this machine, well. They're not the ones who've lived with him, who can say and see how much colour Ai has dragged into his life.

He rolls his hands over Ai's face. 'Ai,' he says, 'I don't think…nobody else is my partner, Ai.'

Ai smiles. As if he knows what Yusaku wants to say but can't, perhaps not ever.

Still. It is painful when Ai starts to probe at him, even when he pushes a mere finger inside. And Yusaku is left wondering if its worth all the hassle, as he bites down on his lip determinedly as Ai gingerly, with a patience that he doesn't see all too often, starting pushing more and more of his fingers inside him, all slathered up with lube. After a while, he even becomes used to the ache.

'I can make it smaller, ' Ai tells him, as he begins coating the penis he's created for himself with said lube, drenching it as though he's a desert he's adding sauce to. Yusaku looks at it, so similar in size to his own and nods gingerly. He doesn't like the thought that he's giving up, that he's conceding in some way, but…

'Oi,' says Ai, a hint of very real seriousness to his tone as he bends down suddenly to look Yusaku in the eye. 'This isn't a duel. I'm not trying to win anything here. And neither should you.'

Yusaku stares at him. He's aware that Ai can be mature, can be considerate even if it can still a bit of a shock to see it. But it makes sense. Ai has always given a damn about him.

'Besides,' Ai adds, now casually stroking his face with the unlubed-up hand. 'There's no hurry. I plan on levelling you up gradually, until you take in anything, of any size, I choose to make.' The inflection in his voice makes it pretty clear what's he's getting at.

Yusaku scowls. He knows Ai's not human, that he can remodel whatever genitalia he likes for himself, changing its shape and size with ease. But Yusaku's _stuck_ with his own.

And deep down, Ai's remark has stroked that odd competitive heat inside him, the one that doesn't want to take anything lying down. It's odd, but he's left wishing that Ai could map himself a nervous system similar to a human so that one day, he can have that smirking face below his, make it fall apart as he ploughs into him and whatever opening he chooses to create for himself. An idle dream. But still, maybe…

'Careful,' Yusaku says, the threat implicit in his own voice. 'Or next time I'll make you regret those words. I don't imagine it could be too comfortable for you, if we swapped positions. Especially if one day, someone devises a program that will let you experience something a bit like what a human goes through, when we do this.'

Already his brain is racing, mapping, planning. He knows the Ignis algorithm, knows they can experience pain and pleasure, most of it one hundred percent mental in a way that a human's is not, unless they're plugged into a virtual world. But still, the things that function like a nervous system in Ai, and with what he remembers from their weird entanglement in cyber-space, maybe…maybe…

Maybe he can give Ai something no one else can.

Ai laughs. 'No, no!' He taps the side of Yusaku's face. 'Stay with me, don't get lost in your own head again. It'll be fun!' His gaze turns lavish. 'Besides…if, you get me down onto the bed, I bet I could make some way cuter faces than the ones I'm going to make you make in a minute,' he murmurs, a promise of his own in his voice, and something in Yusaku shivers – and not in a bad way either.

Eventually, when he decides that it can't be that bad, other people handle bigger…toys all the time and really, what is he waiting for, for it to be the size of _finger_, Ai lines himself up, positioning himself over Yusaku carefully. It should worry Yusaku, knowing this machine is positioned over him. It doesn't. Unlike him, Ai doesn't get tired. He's not going to fall unless he chooses to.

Ai tilts his head at him. 'Ready, steady, go?' he offers.

Yusaku glares at him.

'You're no fun,' Ai mutters, but that frustration refuses to leak into his movement and he enters Yusaku very, very slowly. Yusaku winces, feeling as though he's being peeled open by an unmerciful god, and finds himself squeezing Ai's shoulder tightly, half-hugging him as he's filled to the brim.

'Oi,' says Ai with more than a hint of distaste to his voice as he brushes some of Yusaku's hair from his face. 'It's no fun if you're going to make a face like that, all wrinkled up and pruney like an old man's.'

Yusaku glares at him again. 'Get. Moving.' He forces out.

Ai smiles and nuzzles his face against him like a cat, rubbing its scent over a new piece of furniture. Ai's skin is smooth, flawless, no hint of stubble, perhaps even more like your typical woman's than a man's. Yusaku is still not sure what to make of it.

'Ssh, my sweet Yusaku. Zip up that uncute mouth of yours.'

Yusaku fastens his teeth into the side of his neck for that. Probably not a great idea considering how petty Ai can be in return, but all Ai does is stroke his hair some more, and kiss the top of his head, and that shames Yusaku, enough to make him let go. So of course, it's only_ then_ that Ai draws back and pushes in again with a single sharp thrust that stabs into Yusaku, that sets him flailing back against Ai.

And then out. Then in. Then out.

And it's a strange sensation, being shaken apart like this. Ai's gaze is intent on his, not sexual, but focused, laser-focused, on each breath that rattles out of Yusaku's mouth. Yusaku spares a moment to wonder if he's heart rate is being monitored by him, before Ai twists a little to left and brushes over something that makes Yusaku's mouth drop open and all the thoughts fly out of his head. He claws fruitlessly at Ai's shoulders, and Ai laughs, ducking down to croon against him, '_there_, that's the face I wanted to see.'

After that it's another mixture of warmth and pleasure and vulnerability that Yusaku has no choice but to ride out, each wave of movement riding into him, hard and fast. He can't let go, not entirely, he has to give out some sort of direction, so he tries to lean up, even though the slant of Ai's eyes tells him he's going to lose. But Yusaku clutches at him, fingers wrestling against shoulders, arms that won't yield, and he hisses out words, great gasps of 'there, no, _back_.'

Ai leans in, kisses his throat, and hisses out in return, 'you should trust my calculations, Yusaku-chan, they're not off by a single millimetre.'

Later Yusaku will wonder what sort of calculations he's made and when, and if he really wants to know the answers to these questions.

Either way, he's stuck with Ai, here, now, stuck until something in him rises up, and climbs and climbs, the pleasure splitting his head before his mouth opens and shuts, noise spilling something out, a word, a spell a chant, a 'please' or perhaps simply 'Ai.' But it works, because Ai gives him a look, a pleased smile running over his face, before his own fingers spread over the hard line of Yusaku's cock and begin to stroke, keeping perfect time with his thrusts, mechanically so.

And then Yusaku's body rolls, it gives a great heave, a sound of what sounds to be strangulation escaping him, as the pleasure flies from him and escapes as it always does, leaving him to crash down to the bed again, Ai's thrusts promptly stopping as though they were on a timer, now that Yusaku's found his release.

Yusaku gasps, shaking, and Ai's pleased expression softens, and it crowds in over Yusaku, cooing as though he is a lost infant.

'There, there, I'm here…I told you it would be magnificent.' He nuzzles into Yusaku. Stroking him, hands gliding into his hair and tilting back Yusaku's face so that he can see his eyes. 'I love you, so much,' he says softly, without a trace of deception or joviality on his face, and Yusaku stares back at him, throat full.

Ai strokes his cheeks again, and Yusaku is suddenly squeezing him, hugging him with a fierceness that he would rather not show.

'I,' he says, and he wants to, he wants to tell Ai that-

'I knooooow,' purrs Ai, satisfaction present in every line of his face. 'I always do, even when you're being an unpleasant kuudere about it. But even if you can't say it, be sure to show me _it _lots and lots, okay!' He makes a face. 'And no flirting with Revolver.'

Yusaku blinks, astounded. 'What weird scenario has your imagination cooked up now? I don't flirt with anyone.'

Ai eyes him. 'Oh, don't I know it!' he suddenly snaps out. 'You never understand how you come across sometimes! Which of course, means more trouble for me,' he grouches and Yusaku blinks at him again. He has no idea what Ai is getting at, bur honestly, he reflects, he may just be better off that way.

Then a new thought seems to strike Ai as he gazes down at Yusaku, suddenly all smug and superior, with a very, very pleased grin lighting up his features. 'But never mind! I got you before anyone else did!' And yes, this seems to please him mightily as he cackles to himself. 'Oooohh,' he says bouncing up and down a little on Yusaku's chest – but carefully, not hard enough to leave behind bruises-, 'maybe next time I can get you to say 'please, Ai-**sama**!' Or maybe you'll be able to handle a slightly bigger dick?'

He gazes down at Yusaku, eyes sharp and slanted, something both eager and menacing in their depths.

And Yusaku stares back at him in return for a moment, before, with one trembling hand, he reaches behind him to chuck a pillow straight up at that smug face.

'Night,' he says bluntly beneath Ai's outraged squawk, and closes his eyes determinedly.

'Oh-ho,' he hears Ai say from above him darkly. 'And just what makes you think I'm going to let you abuse me however you like?'

Yusaku winces as he feels those familiar fingers land on his sides, striking against his rib bones with light teasing flicks, and he reflexively kicks out in protest, deliberately aiming for Ai's neck from memory. His heel brushes through non-human hair, so he swivels it slightly, grinds it down into Ai's neck.

'Oi!' his partner instantly protests, and Yusaku smiles inwardly as those fingers dance off his sensitive skin – before a frown promptly works its way back onto his face as those very same fingers clamp down round his ankle. Resigned, he opens his eyes, to see one side of Ai's locks in slight disarray, their owner glaring down at him as though he's attempted to take a pair of scissors to them.

Ai purses his lips, and Yusaku gives his ankle an experimental tug, regretting it slightly as the round ball of bone in his foot grinds against those fingers without making them so much as twitch; in fact all the movement seems to do is make them tighten a little, in triumph. And Ai's expression immediately turns sly.

'Now who's the hostage?' he leers. 'Oooooh,' and he bends down, with a slight laugh in his tone, as his other hand comes down to caress the side of Yusaku cheek. 'You want your foot back, right? What'll you give me in return, hmm?'

Ai's petting of his face is a little too mocking for his liking, so Yusaku twists his cheek away. 'For an AI, you're not being very smart,' he says, relishing the slightly sour look Ai gives him at the insult. 'I can make life very difficult for you; don't think I won't kick you out of here if I have to.'

Ai gives him an unimpressed look. But his fingers loosen a little from around Yusaku's ankle.

It's strange, Yusaku reflects. Out of the two of them, it's Ai who has the most ability to make Yusaku's life miserable; he can hack into Yusaku's medical files, his school records, create a fake social media page for him, even leave him comatose with a touch of his fingers to his brow; and yet Ai often relents to Yusaku's words. Well, mostly. On the surface at least.

The point is, Yusaku doesn't actually have a lot of control over Ai, and what little he does have is control that Ai _allows_. At one time this would have frightened him. Some days, it still does.

'You'd send me out onto the streets? How heartless!'

'Why?' Yusaku asks. 'It's not like you'd die of exposure.'

Ai pouts. 'I'm still not letting you go!' he declares. 'Not until you promise to be nicer to me!'

Yusaku grimaces. And Ai pouts even more.

'Oi! What with that look?! It's like you're thinking 'how unpleasant!'

'Because it is,' Yusaku tells him brutally. 'You're a glutton for affection. If I give you too much, you'll become unbearable.'

Ai narrows his eyes, fingers re-tightening on Yusaku's ankle. And okay, this position is starting to get a little uncomfortable. Not to mention the slightly vulnerable slant of it, his body half-open, partly twisted up against Ai's as a result of his foot's capture.

Yusaku thinks quickly. Ai's being stubborn about this, sure, but then again Yusaku_ was_ the one who tried to kick him in the neck, which maybe, just maybe, was a bit of an overreaction on his part. Plus, he did, Yusaku begrudgingly admits to himself, start things off by throwing a pillow at him.

'I can think of three reasons you should let me go,' he says quickly, not particularly relishing the way one of Ai's eyebrows lift at the hurried roll of his words. 'One: having a hostage is a real pain.'

Ai instantly scowls at this.

'It's going to seriously inconvenience your life,' Yusaku continues. 'You have to make sure they don't do anything stupid and it's going to eat into all your free time. Two: This isn't going to help you get what you want. I'm not about to be nice to someone holding me hostage.'

Ai looks at the ceiling and very pointedly says in an offhand tone, 'unless they're Revolver, you mean.'

Yusaku knows what he's getting at, but determinedly shoves that knowledge away.

'Three,' he says. 'When humans have sex, afterwards they usually…' he hesitates, but Ai is already brightening, his hold against Yusaku's ankle turning lax as he leans forward eagerly.

'What, what?' he asks with a grin. 'Kiss? Hug? Sleep together in the same bed? Aw, are you lonely, Yusaku? Do you want to nestle with your Ai-chan?'

Yusaku scowls and attempts to tug his ankle away. But still grinning, Ai wraps his other hand more firmly round the roll of bone in his foot. 'Yusaku…' he coos. 'You silly thing…you only have to ask.'

And with that, he smoothly deposits Yusaku's lost leg back onto the bed. And then he's moving over Yusaku, twisting into his side, rolling him over, so his arms can snugly loop round Yusaku's waist.

'Much better,' he pronounces smugly.

Yusaku stares at the wall for a moment. Then, gingerly, almost as though he's afraid Ai will lean down and fasten his teeth into his shoulder, he shifts back, pressing their shoulders together. Then, slowly, even daringly, his hand creeps up, to curl around Ai's neck, to press into his hair.

Ai grins at him, slow and lavish. 'I don't mind,' he whispers. 'Play with it as much as you want. It's a lot more fun than your short strands.'

You weren't complaining when you were running your fingers through them earlier, Yusaku thinks. And he repeats the gesture again, watching the shadows lay out and leak across both fingers and hair strands, in the same way light dances and spills over the choppy surface of water.

You're beautiful, he thinks, as he looks at Ai. But right now, with the way I am, I'm too much of a coward to tell you.

Plus there's the open fact that Ai's ego will inflate to the size of the moon if he ever hears Yusaku say as much. Still. He owes it to Ai to make the attempt one day.

But then Ai smiles at him, slow and sweet, in a way his Ignis form can't quite mirror, and Yusaku is left with the bone-dead impression that somehow, someway, he may just already know.

* * *

**Notes:** I feel a bit...guilty over Ai sort of magically designing a cock for himself, given that's it's more than likely that the SOLtiS don't have any physical apparatus down there. On the other hand, their eyes, ears, and hair, and all the other external features like fingernails don't have any sort of physical build beneath whatever projection IS covering the actual body, and they do seem to bear some physical presence in the world despite this. So I wouldn't put it past Ai to mess around with the settings enough to abuse them most thoroughly.


End file.
